A Grey So Dark
by jacknameless57
Summary: Two infamous duelists, both on opposite sides, are being pinned with the blame of chained bank robberies. The teen, Alneir, can't quite remember why he is so hated or even living on the streets while the other, Jiricaius, is well aware that he is considered insane in multiple ways. With a new person stepping into Alneir's life, will he finally remember his past, an forgive himself?


_**Hello everyone, Nameless here!**_

_** This is my first fanfic ever! I've wanted to write a Yu-Gi-Oh fanfic for so long, and finally decided I'd do it. This Story is made of nothing but fictional places and OC characters based to look, speak and act like real duelists I know (except Udame, who is entirely fiction.) Of course the cards and duel-disks are the same. This isn't just a one-shot either. I plan to make many chapters if people like it, maybe even a sequel. So without further adieu, here it is!**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh ZEXAL or any of it's products and merchandise.**_

* * *

Chapter One: Long Forgotten Nights Replaced with New Sights

The birds chirped lightly as the two duelists stood in the center of the park, having formed a crowd around the fountain. The female duelist, Udame, was in a combative stance, her long purple hair being tossed in front of her shimmering, green eyes from the slight breeze. Her short purple skirt, that were matched with black leggings, flowed along with the color of her white, button-up, school shirt. She slid a foot back in preparation for his move, adjusting her purple duel-gazer.

Alneir lifted his arm up, forcing his grey, hooded jacket's sleeve to roll up some. His black skinny jeans stuck to his legs, unlike his white, Suicide Silence shirt and unzipped jacket. He slipped his card into his duel-disk energetically.

"I activate the equip spell, Mage Power, and by equipping Cosmo Queen with the it, she gains 500 attack points for each spell and trap card on my side of the field. Ironically, since you activated Royal Decree, my spell and trap zones have filled up!" Alneir continued on, shouting out his move as he made it. A gleam shot through his bright, blue-grey eye under his black duel-gazer as he let the excitement of the duel take over.

**Cosmo Queen(Level 8/DARK/Spellcaster): Atk:2900=5400**

Udame felt a sensational shiver crawl it's way up her spine. She new what was coming next, seeing as she couldn't repel an attack using her traps. At this point she was wishing she hadn't added Royal Decree to her deck. Swiping her long purple hair out of her face, she glanced up to Alneir and her only remaining monster.

**Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer(Level 4/DARK/Spellcaster/Effect): Def:700**

_ 'I'll be fine for one more turn, as long as his face-down monster-' _Her thought was cut off as Alneir flip-summoned his face-down monster.

**Old Vindictive Magician(Level 2/DARK/Spellcaster/Effect): Atk:450**

"I activate Old Vindictive's flip-effect! Say goodbye to Kycoo!" As Alneir shouted out the words, a brilliant, purple beam shot from his monster, obliterating Udame's only monster. Gasping and taking a step back, she prepared for the final, overkill of a blow. With only 300 life points remaining, she stood no chance.

"Now! I attack you directly with Old Vindictive Magician!"

At this, Udame was surprised. She stood up, looking over to the old magician who wobbled towards her. After a long moment of the magician approaching her, it raised it's staff in the air. With a swift motion, the magician brought it down, slamming the staff into Udame's head. With a small yelp, the rest of her life points were zapped away.

**Udame:0000 Alneir:2900**

As the duel ended, all the cards on the field disappeared, and the augmented field disintegrated into nothing, restoring the environment. 240 Duel Points were added to Udame's Duel Disk while 560 were added to Alneir's. Both duelists and the crowd slipped off their duel-gazers. Everyone returned to there business while Udame stood confused, rubbing her head and staring at Alneir.

"But...why?" She stammered, confused, "you could have gotten more points from attacking me with Cosmo Queen..."

"Eh points are one thing. Having fun is another. What's the fun in winning with an over-powered monster?" Alneir replied quizzically. Before Udame could reply, Alneir approached her quickly and snatched the Royal Decree trap card off her duel-disk.

"Hey! That's my card!" She shouted in response, reaching for it. He held up a hand to calm her, making her drop her arms, now more confused than before.

"This card doesn't fit your deck. Here..." With that, he dropped the card into his pocket. Then, reaching into the other, he pulled out a small assortment of spell and trap cards. He searched through till he spotted the card he was looking for. He took it out and held it up to the girl.

"By no means is it a fair trade on your part, but I care not." He spoke with a slight laugh.

She tilted her head a bit, taking the card slowly. She brought it to her face and gasped at the sight of it.

"A limited edition Mirror Force?!"

"Eh, I have two and you can only have one in a deck. It's nothing really."

She smiled to him and slipped the card into her deck before placing it in her deck-pouch on her belt. Noticing him walking away, she quickly asked.

" Can I get your last name?" Her question making him stop for a moment.

"Jikan. Alneir Jikan." He responded as he turned back to face her. "And yours?"

"Uh, Fukamoi. Udame Fukamoi." She answered with a slight smile. He smiled back and nodded. "I'm sure we'll run into each other again."

Without another word, he turned to the park exit, taking step after step towards it.

As Alneir stepped away from the park, a tall, familiar man stepped out from behind a small group of people who had been watching the duel. He wore plain blue-jeans with holes on each knee that was abnormally large on one. His baggy, AC/DC shirt falling over the top of his pants with a red and black jacket on top. Stopping immediately, Alneir glared at him and clenched his fists. The man chuckled a bit, moving his extremely long red hair out of his face.

"Calm down, now. We wouldn't want that temper getting out of control." The man stated mockingly.

"What the hell do you want?" Alneir demanded.

"All I wanted to ask is if you'd like to duel. It would kill some time before you visit their graves. Besides, it isn't the worst thing you've killed, now is it?"

Alneir simply looked away from the man, holding back his urge to swing a fist at him.

"Just stay the hell away from me, Jiricaius." Alneir whispered, now angered.

The man glanced to Udame, who now chatting with some of her friends in the park, then looked back to Alneir.

"You think she'll accept you, Al? After what you did?"

Enraged, Alneir shook away his thoughts, and stepped away quickly. As he was disappearing into the people on the street, Jiricaius shouted to him.

"You can't run from your past forever, Al!"

The man then let a wicked laugh before being cut off by a feminine voice.

"The whole 'isn't the worst thing you've killed' insult was a bit dry, but I think it worked quite well." Stated Ayame, bluntly.

"Who are you to judge? At least I have the ability to insult others." Retorted Jiricaius.

"At least I don't look like I'm arguing with air. No wonder people think your insane." She backfired at him.

"I'm considered insane because I want to watch the people of earth die a slow, torturous death for being the disease they are. Not because I argue with a spirit no one else can see, hear, touch, smell, or taste."

She blinked for a moment before responding.

"You piss me off."

"The feelings are mutual." He stated, half occupied with watching the girl Alneir had dueled.

"That girl..." He mumbled after a moment of silence.

"Come on, she's like half your age." Ayame stated with a laugh.

"I do not wish to court her, idiot. She is of some importance to Alneir. I could use that to force him into a duel."

"Ah!" She replied enthusiastically, "bait!"

* * *

Alneir sat next to her grave stone, breathing shallowly while staring at the cloudless sky.

"I saw him again today sis. What did he do to us? Why did you hate him so much?"

He paused a moment and looked to the other two graves next to his sister's.

"Was it mom and dad? Is he the one who did that to them? Is he the one who did it to you?"

Alneir sighed and looked back to the sky.

"I wish you were here to tell me..."

He hugged his knees, trying to think back to that night. He just couldn't manage to remember. It seemed so distant. He closed his eyes as some words began to ring in his head. _'Just calm down...it's fine...' _The words were followed by a shrill scream that caused his eyes to shoot open.

"Damn, I wish I could remember..."

* * *

Udame approached her house slowly, still thinking back on the day. That boy had left an impression on her day, along with her duels. After he gave her that card, she won two duels. Each of them involving that card. It seemed like a nice addition to her deck, so she couldn't complain. She reached her front porch and opened the door, setting her bag next to the door on the inside and stepped all the way in.

It was a rather nice house for middle class people. The Living room and kitchen were side by side, separated by a bar lined with three stools. There was a flight of stairs at place where the carpet from the living room ended and wood paneling began. So the left of the Stairs was a well-sized bathroom. Up the stairs were three rooms. To the left was Udame's bedroom. To the front was her mother, Uziku's, master bedroom. To the right was a guest bedroom with nothing but a bed, desk, and chair inside.

"Mom! I'm home!" She shouted, kicking her shoes off and leaving them by the door.

"Oh, hello sweetie. How was school?" Her mother asked, without looking up from the dishes she was washing. Udame was top of her class so this question usually never had an upsetting answer.

"You know, same old school day. All the fun happened after school at the park! There were some amazing duels!"

Laughing a bit in response, she asked, "Did you finally duel some today?"

"Yep! Three times!" She stated happily.

Her mother then bore a confused look on her face.

"Really? Why is that?"

"Well, I had lost the first one, but the guy that beat me had traded my Royal Decree with a different card. I won the next two duels after that!"

Her mother dried off her hands with a hand towel and looked to her daughter.

"What did he trade with you?"

"This!" Udame shouted as she whipped out Mirror Force and displayed it like a prize to her mom. Her mom tilted her head a bit.

"Did he know what he was doing?"

The girl nodded and slipped it back into her deck. "He said he didn't care."

Her mom giggled and poked her cheek.

"Maybe he likes you."

The purple-haired girl blushed and shook her head.

"N-no way! We just met today!"

Still giggling, her mother continued on, "That doesn't mean anything. I remember when me and your father had just met..."

"Mom, I gotta go do some homework." She stated quickly, dashing upstairs to her room, "Sorry!"

Her mom sighed and looked over to the clock. Gasping, she realized she had overcooked the food. She quickly dove to the stove, slipping a potholder on and grabbing her lasagna out of the stove. Studying the pasta, she found "extra-crispy" edges.

"Darn it!"

* * *

Udame plopped down on her bed after coming back to her room from supper. She grabbed her remote off the night stand and turned on her TV. With a digital chime, it flickered on, starting on the news channel. She aimed the remote at the TV and prepared to change it when, suddenly, she saw a familiar face.

"In response to the destruction and robbery of the bank, the Michron City Police stated that there are two suspects, including neighborhood teen, Alneir Jikan, and local man, Jiricaius Rathius."The anchorwoman reported.

Udame gasped, turning up the volume. The anchorwoman continued on about the minor details and such, not saying anything else useful or insightful about the two.

Sighing, she turned off the TV and looked at her deck. _'There's no way it was him! He was dueling me when this went down.' _No one would listen to her, though. She was just one girl. The only way for him to be dropped as a suspect would be if someone else got blamed. That's just how the world worked. Scratching her head, she looked to her homework. She shouldn't be thinking about this right now, seeing as she had a major test tomorrow and should be studying. She scooted back on her bed and continued on the homework she had. With a sigh, she tossed down her homework. Unable to wipe it from her mind, she sat on the chair in front of her computer and turned it on.

As she waited for the computer warm up and get to the login screen, she sat still, studying the Mirror Force she was given. As it came on fully, she set her card down and entered her password. Her profile loaded up, and she opened the internet.

After hours of searching and trying to find any information on the boy, she came up with nothing. Yawning, she leaned back and stretched her arms. _Surely this kid had some kind of history._ That's when she saw it. A link that read "12 year old boy loses remaining family after bizarre house fire." Opening it, she began to read the news article.

"A local boy by the name of 'Alneir Jikan' was the only survivor of this strange house fire. Now what makes this house fire out of the normal is that this is not the first one to have happened. The first had claimed the life of his two parents, 2 years before. This new fire had claimed his 18 year old sister this time. No one knows how it started or why he survived both, but with no hard evidence, the case was closed and blown off as an accident."

She brushed her hair out of her face and leaned back, crossing her arms. _'Could he have started those fires?..' _She quickly dropped the idea. He didn't seem like the type of guy to rob a bank, let alone, kill his own flesh and blood. Shaking her head, she looked over to the clock. Shrieking, she fell out of her chair.

"One in the morning?! I have to get up in five hours!"

She hopped up, tearing off her clothes and changing into shorts and a loose shirt before flopping into bed and flicking off her lamp. _'I'll just talk to him tomorrow if I see him...'_ She thought to herself before drifting off to sleep.

* * *

Alneir sat up on the make-shift bed he had created for tonight with the intention to sleep, but how could he? Not only was he having to sleep in a street alley, but he also had the thoughts of the day upon him. Sleep wasn't arriving easily. Sighing, he leaned his head back and looked to the stars.

"Well at least the night's sky is pretty..."

"Gorgeous, isn't it?" Stated an elderly voice.

"Oh, hello Mira!" Alneir stated, sitting up and looking to the elderly woman. "What are you doing here so late?"

"Just stopping by. Thought you might be hungry." She stated, holding up the remaining slices of a pepperoni pizza in a pizza box. Eagerly, Alneir snatched it and dove in, inhaling the pizza.

"Thank you, ma'am!" He stated through a mouthful of food.

She simply laughed and patted his back before growing quiet. As he finished up the pizza, she turned to him.

"You know you can come stay at the orphanage with me and the other children, right?"

Alneir shook his head immediately. "No way. Being called a murderer every second of the day isn't on my agenda."

She sighed and nodded her head, "I understand. Any way, I should get back to the kids. Have a nice night, Al."

"You too, ma'am!" He said to her with a large smile.

Walking away, he studied her with happy eyes. She was the closest thing he had to a motherly figure at the current moment. Ms. Yuna ran the orphanage down the street, so she usually made nightly stops at Alneir's hideout. He used to live there as well, but fate is a cruel thing. As she disappeared around the corner, he yawned and laid back down.

"Oh well, I should try to get some sleep." He muttered as he combed through his silver hair with his fingers. He again stared at the sky, this time slowly closing his eyes as sleep finally washed over him and settled in.

* * *

Udame fumbled down the stairs tiredly. Staying up late had taken it's toll on her. This being evident, her mother examined her from across the living room worriedly.

"Dear, are you okay?"

"Yeah mom...just stayed up a little late..."

Her mother stood, approaching her quickly. She went to work, Combing her daughter's hair with her fingers before straightening out her her shirt's collar. She rolled up her sleeves, buttoning them so they'd stay like her daughter liked them, and finished with tucking her shirt into her skirt.

"School uniforms these days. They just keep getting more revealing."

Without any will to argue, Udame yawned and rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"Food?" She mumbled.

"There's some peanut butter and jam toast along with a glass of orange juice in the kitchen."

Udame stepped into the kitchen, snagging the toast and munching it lazily.

"I don't mean to rush you, but school starts in an hour. You should probably hurry."

The girl's eyes widened as she looked to the clock. She then scarfed down the remainder of her food, downed the orange juice, wiped her face with a hand towel, and dashed to the door. Fumbling with her shoes for a moment, she cursed under her breath so her mother couldn't hear. After managing to get her feet into her school shoes, she swooped up her bag and made her way to the sidewalk.

"Have a good day at school!" Her mother shouted after her.

Udame shot a thumbs up into the air as she rushed down the street and around a corner.

She continued running down the streets for some time before coming to an intersection, where her body forced her to stop and take a break. She leaned over putting her hands on her knees, panting quickly. Taking a deep inhale, she stood up straight and let it out, glancing around her. Through the passing cars, she noticed something strange in an alley. _'No way!' _She thought as she shot through the on going traffic to the alley across the street. The boy she had met was sleeping on what looked like a cardboard bed.

"What are you doing outside?.." She whispered to herself as he turned over on his side. She reached a hand out and placed it on his shoulder, shaking him a bit to try and wake him up.

"Alneir. Wake up." She whispered to him.

He tossed a bit and muttered, "Just a bit longer..."

She giggled and stood back up, "But I need to get to school."

His eyes shot open and he sat up quickly. He blinked a couple times and looked at her.

"Oh! Hey there. What are you doing here?"

"I should be the one asking you that, sir. Seeing as you're sleeping in an alley."

He scratched his head, too embarrassed to admit he didn't have a home.

"W-well, you see-" He was cut off by a chime from the girl's phone. She pulled her phone out of her bag and pressed a button to read the message from her friend, Aribelle, asking where she was at. Checking the time on her phone she squeaked and put it away quickly.

"Sorry for ditching so quickly, but I have to get going. If you want, you can meet me at the park after school? We have a big test today, and we're getting out early. I'll probably be there around noon."

Nodding, he replied, "Sure, why not?"

She smiled to him happily and waved.

"See you then!"

Then she was off again, dashing away across the street and disappearing from sight. Alneir gave a shrug, laying his head back down and closing his eyes, attempting to get in a nap.

* * *

Alneir had been waiting in the park on a bench since about noon. He had glanced at the clock several times since then. Glancing up one more time, he realized it was almost 2:30.

_'Maybe she isn't coming? Oh well, not like I had anything to do anyway.'_

Just as he was beginning to give up hope, Udame stepped through the arch that was the entrance to the park. She noticed him almost instantly, and smiled to him while rushing over. Smiling back to her, he laughed.

"I was beginning to think that you weren't going to show."

"Sorry about that. The school held us in a bit later since the bank next to it had been robbed."

"Robbed?! Why are you acting so carefree about it?!" He asked, confused.

"What do you mean? That's like the fourth one this month."

He sat there, staring at her with his mind blown.

She tilted her head, "You haven't heard?..You're one of the suspects."

He shook his head in disbelief, "You're kidding?.."

She shook her head. "You and a man named Jiri-something are the only two suspects."

His surprised look faded into a glare at the ground. He clinched his fist as he spoke.

"Jiricaius..."

She laughed nervously at his reaction. _'He must not like him very much...'_

"So, I have something to ask you about earlier today."

His anger faded away as he looked back to her with a smile.

"Shoot."

"Why were you sleeping in an alley?"

His eyes shot back to the ground, this time with depression and regret.

"It's a long story."

"I have time." She replied with a smile.

He sighed and looked back up, "Well...see 6 years back I had lost my parents. I don't remember how or why they died, but apparently I was there. After that, me and my older sister had moved into a small apartment owned by an understanding landlord. My sister had a steady pay, so life was fine. One night, a guy named Jiricaius shows up at the apartment demanding I duel him. All I remember was accepting the duel and the rest was a blur. I woke up in the hospital with a nurse telling me my sister didn't make it. I was twelve then. I've lived on the streets since then."

_'So the story was true...' _She thought to herself. He then brought a card out of his deck-pouch and held it up for her to see. It was a Dark Magician Girl.

"My sis left this for me after she passed. Told the nurse to give it to me..."

He stared at the girl while wringing his hands, hoping she believed that he honestly couldn't remember a thing. She opened her mouth about to speak. Prepared for some kind of comment about being a murderer, he bit his lip.

"I lost someone important to me too. Although it was only one. My dad went off to fight in the dueling wars between Japan and America. He went missing in action and no has heard from him since."

The boy stared in awe at her. She really didn't hold it against him? This seemed impossible. She then looked back at him and blinked.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to brush off what you said like that. Believe me, I heard you. I hope you're okay."

He then laughed and nodded to her.

"Believe me, I'm fine. Thank you for caring."

Giggling a bit, she bit her finger as she thought to herself.

"Something on your mind?" Alneir asked, concerned.

"Hmm... come with me." She stated, grabbing his hand.

"Where to?"

He could barely get out the words before she yanked him up and pulled him with her out of the park.

"You'll see!"

She let go of his hand as they both began to walk down the street, passing person after person. Alneir continued to follow her blindly, unaware of the plan she had been concocting in her mind. Uneasy, he questioned again.

"Can you please tell me where we're going?"

She stopped for a moment.

"Is all you own your duel-disk, duel-gazer, and cards?"

As he nodded, she turned to him and pointed down the alley she had found him in this morning.

"Can you go grab your duel-disk and follow me?"

Doing as she asked, he stepped into the alley, approaching a small cardboard box. Reaching in, he revealed a duel-disk and slid it onto his arm, locking it into place. Without another word, he followed her down the street once again.

* * *

_**Yes, even Jiricaius is based on a real guy. One of my best buddies actually. Any way, I hoped you all liked it! Reviews would be nice, criticism is always helpful! Let me know if you guys want another chapter!**_

_**Nameless out!**_


End file.
